When goods are being transported by airfreight they are typically loaded onto pallets and secured in place using a suitable pallet net. Once the load is secured on a pallet it may be loaded into the cargo hold of an aircraft. One such net is disclosed in WO 02/062619 A1. The pallet net is of generally conventional cruciform construction and comprises a main panel which overlies the load in use and a plurality of wing panels which hang down against the sides of the load. The bottom edge of each wing panel is provided with a plurality of double stud fittings which can be secured to a complimentary seat track on the pallet. Each side edge of the wing panels meets with an adjacent side edge to define a net corner. The net corners are releasably secured using any suitable means. In the pallet net disclosed in WO 02/062619 A1 the net includes a plurality of corner securement devices which may be utilised to close the corner and secure the load onto the pallet net for transportation. In other known nets the corner may be secured by means of a lashing line which extends from the main panel between the side panels and may be threaded between adjacent side panels to secure the corner.
Cargo pallet covers are commonly used to cover a load built up on a pallet for transportation. The pallet cover serves to provide some form of additional protection to the load, typically to protect the load from the elements. The additional protection may take a wide variety of forms, for example it may serve to provide a waterproof barrier layer, a thermal insulation layer, an electrical insulation layer, impact protection, or any other properties which may be required for the specific load being transported. Alternatively, the pallet cover may take the form of fireproofing for the load to prevent a fire spreading from the load to other items stored in the cargo hold. A wide variety of pallet covers are known and the material properties will vary depending on the protection required for the specific load. Once the load has been built up on the pallet the pallet cover is placed on top of the load and the combination of load and cover is secured to the pallet by a pallet net in the manner described above.
Currently available pallet covers are known to function well, but a number of problems exist, most notably with their handling and use on irregular shaped loads. When the load is of a regular rectangular shape then the pallet cover will simply adapt to the shape of the load. However, it is quite common for the load to be of an irregular shape (typically one side will be higher than the other). Standard pallet nets are provided with reefing hooks which are used to take up any slack in the net material caused by irregular loads. When the load is of an irregular shape the pallet cover tends to bunch up and is also prone to hang below the bottom of the pallet. This can cause problems in securing the pallet net and can be time consuming to resolve for operators.
The problem is solved in GB 2 439 450 A by providing a pallet cover including a plurality of net attachment devices for attaching a pallet net to the pallet cover. By providing net attachment devices for attaching a cargo net to the pallet cover a user is presented with a simple integrated system which makes it easier and quicker to deploy the cargo pallet cover and pallet net. The time saved in fitting the cover and net represents significant savings in terms of time required to load goods on a pallet.
The net attachment devices are arranged such that they are associated with reefing hooks on the pallet net. The term “associated with reefing hooks” simply requires that the net attachment devices are located at a distance from the bottom edge of the side panel which is approximately the same distance as that of a reefing hook on the wing panel or the net to which it is attached. The actual location of the net attachment devices may be slightly above or slightly below the location of the reefing hooks. The net attachment devices will typically be provided in the lower half of the side panels, typically between a quarter and half way up the side panel in a direction measured away from the bottom edge.
Pallet nets are typically provided with reefing hooks at a set distance from the bottom edge of the wing panels. If a load is of a reduced height then the wing panel will not be taut when it is secured to the pallet. In order to remedy this the reefing hooks are engaged with a portion of the net mesh on the wing panel above the reefing hook in order to take up the slack.
The net attachment devices are associated with the reefing hooks on the pallet net and function to reef in the slack in the pallet cover. If the net attachment devices were not provided then the pallet cover would tend to bunch up when the load was of a reduced height. The excess material would gather at the base of the load and in addition to being unsightly it could interfere with the operation of the pallet net. When the reefing hooks on the pallet net are engaged with a portion of the net mesh the excess material is gathered into a fold in the pallet net. Exactly the same occurs with the pallet cover when the intermediate net attachment devices are attached to the wing panel of the pallet net in the region of the reefing hooks—the excess material is gathered in a fold and kept neatly out of the way. In this way, the lower portion of the pallet cover, between the intermediate net attachment devices and the bottom edge of the side panels, is maintained at a predetermined position regardless of the height of the load. The lower portion of the cover is supported by the pallet net so that it doesn't overhang the pallet.
The combination of a cargo pallet cover attached to a pallet net functions well to address the problem of bunching of the pallet cover material on reduced height loads. However, a problem with this construction is that the folds of excess material act as pockets, which been known to fill with water, for example when a load is left in the rain. This water can remain in the pocket during transportation of the load and can cause problems when it arrives at its end destination. For example, the water may be released when the load is broken down, causing a slip hazard for operators.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome some of the problems of the prior art, or at least to provide an alternative to the currently available equipment.